Dispensing container for mustard, ketchup, and the like, having a slidable piston with hollow stem



June 3, 1952 J. scHwARz 2,599,071

DISPENSING CONTAINER FOR MUSTARD, KETCHUE'-, AND THE LIKE, HAVING 1 A SLIDABLE PISTON WITH HOLLOW STEM Filed Sept; 19, 1950 JOHN SCH AFz-z,

Patented June 3, 1952 DISPENSING CONTAINER FOR MUSTARD, KETCHUP, AND THE LIKE, HAVING A SLIDABLE PISTON WITH HOLLOW STEM John Schwarz, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application September 19, 1950, Serial No. 185,538

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to containers of mustard, ketchup and the like. More particularly the present invention relates to dispensers for use in connection with containers of the type referred to. I

It is an object of this invention to provide a dispenser for mustard, ketchup and the like, that is of simple construction, dependable in operation and easy to manipulate.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dispenser, of the type referred to, that is easy to clean.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a dispenser, of the type referred to, that may conveniently be held in and operated with one hand only.

Furthermore, it is an object of my invention to provide a dispenser, of the type referred to, that may conveniently be operated to dispense exactly the desired quantity of its contents.

These and other objects of my invention will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings which illustrate a' preferred embodiment thereof and wherein Figure 1 is a vertical section through a mustard dispenser embodying my invention exposing the actuating mechanism within,

Figure 2 is another vertical section through the dispenser taken at right angles to the section illustrated in Figure 1, with the actuating mechanism in a dilferent operational position.

The dispenser illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a cylindrical vessel I which may be of glass, plastic, metal or any other suitable material. The open upper end of said vessel is closed by a detachable lid structure II, which is composed of a horizontal floor plate 12 from which rises an outer shell l3 of dome shape, the bottom edge of which is formed into a vertically depending annular lip [4 that fits telescopically over the upper end of the vessel I0. Slideably disposed within the vessel IB is a centrally apertured piston or plunger [5 provided along its periphery with a suitable gasket l6 and secured to the lower end of a vertically rising tubular stem or piston rod I1. Said stem extends through, and is guided for vertical sliding movement by, an opening I9 in the plate l2 and an opening 20 in the crest of the dome shaped shell l3, with its projecting upper end suitably contracted, as shown at 2 I, to form a discharge spout 22 that may be closed by a cap 23 whenever the dispenser is not in use (Figure 1).

In practical use the vessel is filled with mustard, ketchup or the like, below the plunger, as

2 indicated at 24 in both Figures 1 and 2, and by depressing the plunger the mustard in the vessel is forced upwards through the tubular stem l1 and discharges through the spout 22 at the up-v per end thereof. To operate the plunger the stem I1 is provided with a vertical rack bar 25 which extends along its outer surface through suitable notches l9 and 20'. in the edges of the apertures l9 and 20, respectively (Figure 2). Said rack is engaged by a gear 21 of small diameter which is secured to a horizontal shaft 28 that is rotatably supported by a pair of L-shaped brackets 29 and 30 which are bolted to and rise from the floor plate l2. To the left of the gear 21, as viewed in Figure 1, the shaft 28 carries another gear 32 of somewhat larger diameter which meshes with a third gear 33. Said third gear 33 is preferably of a smaller diameter than the gear 32 and is firmly mounted upon another horizontal shaft 34 that is rotatably supported in the brackets 29 and 30 above and parallel to shaft 28. Firmly mounted upon said last mentioned shaft is a manipulating wheel 35 which is of such diameter as to protrude partially through an arcuate slot 31 provided in the side of the dome shaped shell I3 of lid structure I l as best shown in Figure 2.

To dispense mustard, ketchup or whatever the contents of the dispenser might be, a user merely grips the cylindrical vessel with one of his hands and moves the protruding segment of the manipulating wheel 35 with his thumb, which actuates the plunger l5. By virtue of the described transmission arrangement 2l--323335 rotation of the protruding wheel segment moves the plunger in the same direction in which said protruding wheel segment is moved. In other words, by turning the exposed wheel segment in downward direction, the plunger I5 is moved deeper into the vessel It] extruding mustard through the spout 22 at the end of the tubular stem l1. Thus, in order to dispense the contents of the vessel I0 the user merely moves the exposed wheel segment toward himself, which is the convenient thing to do with the thumb of the hand that holds the vessel; and by virtue of the described relation in the size of the manipulating wheel 35 and the gears interposed between said wheel and the rack 25, rotation of the manipulating wheel 35 over an arc of the size exposed through the slot 3'! may be arranged to advance the plunger IS in small increments only so that there is no danger for excessive amounts of the contents of the vessel to he accidentally dispensed when the described mechanism is op- V erated.

be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the specific constructional details illustrated and described, which may be departedfrom without departing from the scope and :spirit of my invention.

, 'I claim:

A dispenser for mustard, ketchup and the "like, comprising a vessel having open upper end, a lid structure arranged to close said vessel and composed of a horizontal floor plate and an outer shell of dome shape, said shell having an openlngin itscrest and anarcuate slot withi'n'itsside wall extending within 'a vertical plane and said floor plate "havin ta central "opening in vertical alignment with the opening in the crest of "said shell, :a f tubular stem extending slideably through said openings from above :said shell into :the interior 30f said vessel, a centrally apertured plunger secured to the lower end of said stem 4 within said vessel, a rack provided on said stem and extending over the major portion of its length, a gear in mesh with said rack rotatably supported from and within said lid structure, a manipulating wheel rotatably supported by and within said lid structure and arranged to protrude partially through the lateral slot of said shell thereof, and a gear 'trai'nginterposed between said manipulating wheel and said first gear to efiect co-directional movement of said -plunger and the exposed segment of said wheel whenever said wheel is manipulated.

JOHN SCHWARZ.

REFERENCES CITED 'The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 598,965 Gonorousk-y "Sept. 14,1897 922,492 Lindewirth etal. May :25, 1909 1,291,447 Duncan J an. 14, 1919 1,389,227 Sternberg et-al. Aug.:30 1921 1,802,113 Internann et al. Apr. 21,-1931 2,029,055 Burke Jan.-28, 1936 2,269,371 Hammerschmidt et a1. Jan. 6, 1942 

